Breaking The Anti-Dragon Rule
by kaaayyytteee
Summary: Hiccup and Skadi were both shadows of what other people expected them to be. Hiccup: a strong, brave, Viking who was next in line to be Chief. Skadi: a strong, brave warrior. After finding Toothless in the woods, the two break one of Berk's biggest rules: When you see a dragon, kill it. Hiccup/OC. Movie-based, with slight changes. M for language, mature scenes, and violence.
1. Chapter 1

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Hiccup woke up violently from a dead sleep.

The sounds of screaming, burning buildings, shouting Vikings, and the screeches of deadly dragons could be heard through the sturdy walls of his home. Jumping to his bare feet, Hiccup quickly got dressed and rushed to the front door, only to slam it closed as a fireball came soaring his way.

"Not again." Hiccup grumbled, pushing his hand through his busy auburn hair. Hiccup counted to ten before ripping open the door and rushing out into the burning village.

Brawly men wielding sharpened weapons seemed to pour out of small huts in impossible numbers. Some women and children were rushing to safe-houses, trying to live through this dragon attack. Some brave women and children joined the men in battle, somehow looking more frightening than the muscle-bulging men.

"**_What are you doing out?!"_** A crazed looking Viking shouted as he rounded on Hiccup, accidentally knocking the gangly sixteen year old onto his behind. The usual banter ensued: numerous of his father's shield brothers and sisters demanding to know why he's out during a battle. Then the appearance of his father, Chief Stoick, who grabbed him by his upper arm and dragged him off to the smithy.

Gobber, the massive black-smith who owns the smithy and makes all of the weapons in the village, greeted him with a pitying smile. Hiccup sighed, throwing himself against the window still, watching the destruction of his village.

_'This sucks.'_ He thought, watching the grownups fighting and some of the teens his age dashing around. He watched Fishlegs and Snotlout begin to douse one of the burning huts while the rest of the teenagers fetched buckets of water.

_'I wish I could have cool jobs like them.' _Hiccup thought forlornly, watching Ruffnut and Tuffnut fight over a bucket. Astrid was ignoring the twin's annoying banter, using the blunt side of her battle axe to swat a small, annoying dragon out of her way.

_'Even the new guys are contributing more than I am, and I'm the Chief's son!' _Hiccup thought darkly, watching the four new teenagers from a Viking settlement from some island in the west. The four teenagers were all related, hailing from the Viking settlement in Ireland. They had recently returned after the death of one of one of their members.

The eldest of the new comers was a girl who was one year older than Hiccup, a girl named Sybil . Joining her was her younger sister, brother, and cousin. Sybil's sister, Lydia, and her cousin, Skadi, were the same age as him. Cynric, her brother, was two years younger, but was tall for a thirteen year old boy.

Hiccup's father told him that the teenager's family used to live in Berk, but Hiccup just couldn't remember the four teenagers. He could vaguely remember anything about the Telka Clan. Hiccup could remember a fuzzy memory of Olfar Telka often going into battle with his father, coming back and giving Hiccup little toys and candies. Olfar Telka and his sister Olga were born natives of Berk. When Hiccup's father had started a settlement in a place called Ireland, Stoick could think of no one better to keep order of the settlement than the Telka siblings.

Hiccup's father told him that while on the island, Olfar and Olga fell in love and married two of the natives. Olga had married a man named Patrick O'Aude, who was a brave Celtic warrior. Olfar had fallen in love and married a shepherd woman named Brigit McMack.

When both couples found out they were going to have children, they moved back to Berk for their children to be born. Olga and Patrick gave birth to Sybil, Lydia, and Cynric. Olfar and Brigit had given birth to a son named Perth and had waited eight years before having their daughter, Skadi. Olfar and Brigit decided to raise their family in Berk, and did so until Skadi was around eight years old. The winter was very harsh that year, and the job of a shepherdess is never done. Brigit would never leave her beloved sheep, even in a snowstorm.

Brigit was dead by the summer harvest. The healers said it was because of the cold. She had gotten too cold, her immune system had worn down and allowed her to contact something called phenomena. Broken hearted and unable to care for his children by himself, Olfar moved his family back to the Irish settlement.

In his heart, Hiccup felt horrible for Skadi. He knew how she felt. Sighing, Hiccup pushed the sad thoughts away and let his mind trail to other places. His emerald eyes became glassy and bland as he day dreamed, ignoring the sparking buildings and screaming villagers. He quickly became bored, returning his attention back to the teens his age.

And, if Hiccup was completely honest with himself, _which he wasn't_, he would realize that he was watching one of the teenagers more than the others.

Secretly, Hiccup was interested in Skadi. Sure, he still held a flame for the beautiful Astrid, but what was he supposed to do when she kept ignoring him. He knew that he wasn't an impressive Viking. He had hoped that Astrid would become interested in his personality, but that never happened.

"Hiccup, yer jus' gonna depress yerself watchin' 'em." Gobber pulled Hiccup out of his blatant staring. The green eyed boy shook his head, turning to face his teacher.

"I know, Gobber. I just wish..I was like them. That Dad didn't completely hate me." Hiccup sighed, turning back to the window. He heard Gobber sigh before he turned his attention back to his forge, sharpening weapons for the occurring battle.

While Lydia and Sybil had joined the teenage fire brigade, Skadi and Cynric had been given the job of couriers. They carried newly sharpened weapons, extra arrows, armor, and supplies to the warriors, acting like a life line between battle field and smithy. Hiccup thanked the Gods for this little speck of luck. Since he was the blacksmith's apprentice, he would be interacting with Skadi.

"COURIER, HURRY!" Gobber shouted, turning to the entrance of the smithy. Hiccup excitedly turned to the door, only to deflate when he saw that the courier was Cynric.

Cynric was the typical Viking, six foot tall, blonde haired, and blue eyed. Cynric was nice Hiccup supposed, but when the large, young teen had swaggered off the boat, Hiccup's father was cooing over him in awe. Hiccup had scowled and swallowed back the burn of jealousy when his father had accepted Cynric with a hug, eyeing him up and down before telling him "What a fine Vikin' ye' are!".

"New ar'rows fer tha ar'chers on tha' West wall." Gobber ordered, breaking Hiccup from another daydream while fastening two massive quivers stuffed with arrows onto Cynric's strapping shoulders.

"Hiccup, start sharpenin' those s'ords! Skadi will ar'ive shortly." Gobber said, making Hiccup jump up from his slouch against the wooden window pane. Hiccup was positive that he had never sharpened swords so quickly in his life.

"There ye a're! Hur'ry up then lassie! Ye can tell who's s'ord is who's by the c'rests on tha' blades." Gobbler's order had Hiccup jerking his head up, dunking a fire hot blade into a bucket of water. Skadi had come into the smithy, covered in soot and some light wounds, but otherwise mismatched eyes scanned the smithy before landing on Hiccup, who was packing the swords into a large leather sling for her to carry on her back.

Skadi cautiously and silently toed towards Hiccup, and he slowed his efforts so he wouldn't spook her. Skadi was very skittish, like a baby horse. Hiccup felt very connected with Skadi, even though they never spoke. While the typical Viking "dream girl" was tall, beefy, and blonde, Skadi was like him: different.

Skadi was shorter than the average citizen of Berk, about five foot three inches. Her body wasn't athletic like most girls, she was small and sleek-perfect for a quick Courier. She was slightly tan and her skin was delicate looking, only a few scars decorating the velvet looking flesh. Her hair was wavy, the light brown colored locks reaching the middle of her back, reminding Hiccup of fresh mead. What Hiccup liked most though, were her eyes. Skadi's eyes were beautifully mismatched; the right orb a deep glacial blue and the left orb a bright turquoise.

"H-how's the uh..fight going?" Hiccup asked, attempting to make conversation. Skadi pursed her lips in an uncomfortable way and shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes darted around the smithy, clearly uncomfortable with Hiccup's attempt at conversation. Skadi wasn't snooty, some girls refused to speak to him because of his "useless-ness", but this girl couldn't speak to _anyone_ what wasn't family.

Hiccup internally groaned. _'One girl I like is a total jerk. The other is to afraid to look anyone in the eye, let alone speak.'_

It was just **his **luck.

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"That was a good battle!" Stoick the Vast praised his warriors, who pumped their fists and cheered. The red headed chief turned his attention to the teenagers of the village and bowed his head to them.

"All of ye did very well." Stoick praised with a smile, making the teen's eyes grow wide with pride. "Ye all must be tired, 'ead back to yer homes everyone." Stoick announced to the crowds, who slowly started to disperse.

One of the oldest teenagers, seventeen year old Sybil, turned to her two younger siblings and younger cousin. The red headed girl sighed, rubbing her eyes and smearing her light purple war paint. Her tanned skin was covered in soot and light burns, her turquoise eyes decorated in stripes of purple war paint. Sybil towered over her family members, even the tall Cynric, at a massive six foot four. Sybil eyed the damage to their new village while trying to pat soot out of her dark green and dark blue clothes.

"Let's go, guys." Sybil ordered, jerking her head down the road. Lydia, Cynric, and Skadi all agreed, following the eldest girl's lead down the packed down dirt road to their huts.

"That was awesome!" Lydia cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet as they walked. Lydia was about five foot seven, with honey brown eyes, strawberry blonde hair, pale, and covered with freckles. Like her older sister, Lydia was covered in soot and burns, but her golden orange war paint, one stripe on each cheeks and one on her chin, still shone brightly through the dirt and soot.

"I didn't know there would be that many dragons." Cynric admitted, ruffling his soot covered blonde head.

"What did you expect during a _dragon_ attack?" Lydia laughed, playfully prodding at her younger brother. Cynric laughed, elbowing his sister lightly in the ribs.

"That smithy was damn hot though, I wasn't expecting that." Cynric said, swiping at his brow.

"Cyn, it's a stall for heating, modeling, and liquefying metals. Why wouldn't it be hot?" Skadi laughed good naturedly as Cynric blushed. Sybil and Lydia burst out laughing, patting their younger brother on the back.

"Other than that, I think we did good." Skadi commented softly, her small chest puffing with pride.

"Yes, you and Cynric did exceptionally well." Sybil said, a proud smile on her gorgeous tanned face. "I was a little nervous when that tower went down, I thought I spied you two close by."

"You did!" Cynric bellowed, laughing loudly. "Skadi saw it starting to crumble, and she snatched me up fast enough for us to get away."

"Cynric you really need to observe your surroundings. Skadi, great job, I'm sure your Papa will be proud of you, Perth too." Sybil smiled, throwing her long arm over her cousin's feeble shoulders.

"Thanks Syb." Skadi said softly, a touch of a smile crossing her small face. Sybil smiled at Skadi's rare moment of outgoing personality, thankful that the smaller girl was in a talkative mood. After a few minutes of casual conversation, the teenagers came upon their homes. At the East of the village, Skadi and her father Olfar lived in a small hut across the street from Sybil, Lydia, Cynric, and their mother Olga.

"Have a good rest of the night you guys." Skadi smiled as the quartet parted ways to their own homes.

"You too Skadi, remember to wash that paint off." Sybil reminded Skadi in a motherly tone, wetting her thumb and swiping at the green line of war paint that was striped underneath Skadi's eyes and over the bridge of her nose.

"Gothca, Syb." Skadi said, walking into her own hut, where her father sat at the kitchen table with her older brother, both nursing a jug of mead.

Olfar the Force was a large man with brown hair and glacial blue eyes, and his daughter was the light of his world. Perth the Sincere was a large Viking as well, with dark brown hair and light turquoise eyes. Being many years older than Skadi, he was often out pillaging with his father, but still loved his only sister.

"You two did great today." Skadi smiled, heading for the kitchen to grab herself something to eat. Her father hummed proudly, his mouth full of mead.

"Yew did good too. I saw yew runnin' 'round, fasta' than wind." Perth laughed, resting his elbows against the worn wooden table. Skadi flourished under her older brother's preening, it meant more to her than words of praise from her older cousin.

"I saw you fighting those gronckle, very good." Skadi said, settling down next to her brother with a plate of roast chicken and boiled vegetables. The food here wasn't too different than the food in Ireland, she was used to the minimal spread of palate.

"I'm really glad yer fittin' in 'ere, Skadi. Yer M'uter is p'roud a' ya." Olfar said, smiling at his youngest child. Skadi smiled, shifting awkwardly in her chair for a moment. Her mother, or "m'uter" as her father pronounced, really would be proud of her.

Skadi wanted to be just like her mother: brave, kind, excitable, and easy to talk to. Sighing, Skadi pushed her half eaten plate away before excusing herself up to the attic loft, which she had claimed as her room.

She suddenly wasn't feeling hungry anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it's taken so long! I've been working on the plot and more character development (: I don't want to just puke out random crap on you guys for this story!

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Skadi thanked the Gods that the responsibility of a courier wasn't a full time job.

Skadi decided that she wanted to have a day away from the village and as soon as the run rose, she set off into the forest. With a spear attached to her back, the small Celt-Viking felt safe walking through the peaceful forest. All the trees were green, even though the climate was rather cold. Hearty flowers bloomed with gorgeous colors and streams abound with fat and healthy fish.

_'Ugh, fish.'_ Skadi thought in dislike as she watched a ripe looking salmon breech from the crisp river. After walking for a few hours, Skadi found a soft patch of grass to sit in by the babbling river. Pulling off the cloth and leather wrappings from her bare feet, Skadi let out a sigh of relief and dipped her bare feet into the cool river.

"You come here often, too?"

Skadi calmly turned her head, gazing Hiccup who had appeared from the foliage behind her. Pursing her lips, she shrugged as the tall and gangly Viking sat down beside her.

"Not often." Came the soft reply. The soft reply shocked Hiccup, but he tried not to stutter too much.

"Ah-ah..um..I-I come here a lot." Hiccup started to ramble, scratching the back of his head."Y-ya know it, to ah..to get away from..from _everything_!"

"Everything?" Skadi asked, trying her hardest to keep this conversation going for longer than five minutes.

"My D-Dad being…him! Like…like he wants me to..to change everything that…that makes me..me." Hiccup announced, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. He worried that he was pouring his soul out for her a little too quickly, which might scare her off, but he was too nervous to shut his trap. Skadi pursed her lips again, slowly nodding her head and listened to Hiccup rant about his overpowering father.

"Don't let anybody change who you are." Skadi said as Hiccup finished his ten minute rant about how his father wished he wasn't his son and how his father wanted him to be the perfect Viking.

"It's just..so _hard_. I've got all these people breathing down my neck, telling me to change. When my time comes to be Chief, I can't be strong like my father." Hiccup said sadly, holding his head in his hands. Skadi sighed, hunching her back so she could look into Hiccup's eyes past his low hanging bangs.

"Someday, we're going to need a leader like you." Skadi said, nudging Hiccup lightly. Hiccup sighed, turning to Skadi and smiled.

"You think so?" He asked nervously, tugging at the leather strings that bound his tunic closed.

"Know so." Skadi giggled with a lovely smile on her face.

"So..uh..why did you come back to Berk?" Hiccup asked nervously, taking off his boots and pushing up his pant legs before putting his feet in the water besides hers.

"My uncle died. After my Mama died, my Dad moved us out to the Green, so my uncle and aunt could help raise my brother and I. When my uncle died, my Dad and aunt decided it was best to return home to Berk." Skadi said, making Hiccup flinch at the lost tone in her voice.

"S-sorry if I ah..br-brought up bad memories." Hiccup felt like the biggest idiot in the village. He'd finally gotten enough luck to have Skadi actually speak to him, and he unknowingly brings up her dead mother and uncle.

_Smooth_.

"Don't worry about it. Perth says that your Mama died too." Skadi stated, taking a deep breath. "So I guess we can understand how the other feels. The pain when someone brings them up, even when they mean the best."

**_"It's just reminding you of what you don't have anymore." _**The two said at the same time, turning to look at each other in shock.

"That was freaky." Skadi laughed, a deep chuckling that made Hiccup start to laugh too. He'd always tried to imaging Skadi's laugh. He imagined it to be soft and delicate, the sound of tinkling bells, but it was the exact opposite. Skadi's laughs were deep and breathy, but none the less attractive.

"Too freaky." Hiccup agreed with a laugh and a large, goofy smile on his face.

"So, you work at the smithy? I see you in there a lot." Skadi asked, kicking her legs gently in the water.

"Yeah, I'm Gobber's apprentice." Hiccup said, scratching the back of his neck.

"That sounds pretty awesome, I would have no clue how to work at the smithy. I'd probably burn my own foot off." Skadi laughed, skipping some flat pebbles into the water. Hiccup laughed at the mental image, but shook his head.

"Yeah, it's an occupational hazard I guess. I never burned my foot, but I got some nice burns from being an idiot and not wearing gloves and long sleeves one day." Hiccup laughed at his own stupidity, shoving up his long sleeves and showing the brunette some small, aged burns.

"Yeouch. You ever get a sunburn?" Skadi asked, tugging at the long, slit sleeves of her mint green, off the shoulder tunic.

"Sunburn?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"You know, when you stay out in the sun too long without proper coverings. Your skin turns red and burns. Sometimes you get dizzy and you have to mush up certain plants and rub them on your skin for relief." Skadi said, cocking a dark brow.

"The sun doesn't come out around here long enough for that to actually happen." Hiccup laughed, starting to skip some pebbles along with the girl.

"Lucky…You know, it's easier to talk to you than I thought." Skadi said, smiling while pursing her lips. It was very hard and stressful for Skadi to speak to anyone other than her family. The revelation that talking to Hiccup was actually _relaxing_ was quite the delightful discovery.

"T-thanks. You're pretty quiet, so I'll take that as a massive compliment." Hiccup smiled, making the brunette blush.

"Y-yeah well..ah..um.." Skadi said, her face turning a lovely shade of pink. "Listen..ah..what are you doing in your free time?" Hiccup asked without stuttering, and felt pride in himself well up in his chest.

"I start dragon training next week." Skadi winced, unhappy about the idea. She didn't want to go to training, but her father and Perth thought it would be good for her. The sense of pride that Hiccup had felt suddenly disappeared. He wished he could go to dragon training too.

"Well, we..w-we..possibly..m-maybe after we ..auh,..w-we could." Hiccup started stuttering, wringing his hands nervously.

**_"DRAGONS!" _**

The shout was accompanied by the sound of horns and drums, making the two teenagers jerk up. Hiccup jammed his wet feet into his boots, while Skadi grabbed up her cloth and leather foot bindings and quickly re-wrapped her feet.

"Show time." Skadi said, nodding to Hiccup. The two ran back to the village, but Hiccup was having a hard time keeping up with Skadi. The Celt-Viking was quick, a lot faster than Hiccup was. Hiccup often compensated his lack of brute force with his ability to move quickly, but he was nowhere near as agile as Skadi. The little brunette swerved through foliage and leapt over fallen trunks like a spry elk.

"S-slow down!" Hiccup called, watching the space between him and her grow.

"Can't! Gobber might need me!" Skadi called back, her body bent low to the ground and her arms pumping for speed. Once the two had burst from the tree line, it was a clear race through meadows and pastures to get back to the village. Hiccup pushed himself, eventually making pace with the brunette courier by copying her movements. Once again, Hiccup compensated intelligence and his ability to quickly pick up on small details over brute strength. By copying Skadi's running technique, he found out that he was able to speed up a decent amount.

Many of the girls from the village tried to look pretty while they ran, like running was some kind of damn romance novel. Skadi was a violent sight to behold while she ran: legs and arms pumping violently, her back hunched and head down, and how she breathed through both her flaring nose and open mouth while she ran to get extra air.

"See you at the smithy!" Hiccup called as the two made it to the village, a quarter of which was already burning to the ground. Skadi nodded, sprinting off towards the sound of screaming and growls. Hiccup, already winded, began to make his way towards the smithy, when the typical routine happened to him. Someone noticed he was "out", informed the others, and suddenly his dad appeared from thin air, dragging him to the smithy like he was a prisoner.

"I COULD HAVE WALKED MYSELF!" Hiccup shouted to his father as the Chief raced back to the battle. Gobber gave him the typical pitying smile, before once again-Hiccup found himself slouching against the wooden window pane.

_'And I'm back at this window, sitting back and watching.'_ Hiccup thought sadly, watching all his peers dash around and douse fires. Cynric had popped into the smithy a few times, but Hiccup hadn't caught sight of his new friend. Could he call her a friend? Was it too early?

"Ahhhh, c'mon! Let me out, please." Hiccup whined to Gobber after having gotten the first sighting of Skadi since the fighting began, the lithe brunette leaping over burning lumber like a stag.

"Please, I need to make my mark!" Hiccup said, desperately wanting to prove himself. All he needed to do was get out there-get out there and prove to everyone that he wasn't as useless as everyone thought he was.

"Oh, ye've left plenty of marks-all in the wrong places." Gobber said to the sixteen year old, hammering away at the fastenings of a shield.

"Please, two minutes! I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better and I might even get a date." Hiccup tried to reason with the older blacksmith, who snorted.

"Ye' can't even pick up ah' hammer, can't swing ah' axe." Gobber shook his head, lifting up a metal and rope bola. "Ye' can't even throw one 'ah these.

"Okay, okay, fine. But-but, this will throw it for me!" Hiccup said, unveiling a strange contraption. It looked a little like a wheelbarrow, with a strange hinged lid. When Hiccup accidentally hit a lever, the machine launched a bola, missing Gobber by a few inches and flying over the counter.

"ARH!" Hiccup heard whoever came into the smithy shout as the bola hit them, wrapping around them and sending them crashing to the floor.

"See, now this r'igh' 'ere, is what I'm talkin' 'bout. Yew make this horrendous thing, an' almost kill one 'ah me couriers!" Gobber sighed, rubbing his forehead with his non-prosthetic hand. Hiccup froze as Gobber rounded the counter and unwound the bola from the brunette courier.

"Ye' alright, lil'le lass?" Gobber asked, helping the courier to her feet. Skadi blushed, nodding her head before turning to Hiccup.

_'This is it-she's going to rip me to pieces. She's going to kill me, eat me, cook me, and tell me she doesn't want to be friends. In that exact order.' _Hiccup moaned to himself. Skadi turned to him, flashing Hiccup a sheepish smile, making the auburn haired Viking freeze.

"Sorry about that, wrong place at the wrong time." Skadi whispered lowly, her sheepish grin widening at the dumbfounded look on Hiccup's face.

"Here are Helga and Vilkas' swords, and Grimmer said he needs his bow fixed as well." Skadi whispered lowly, unpacking said weapons from the leather pouch upon her back. Gobber smiled, patting her head, and turned back to Hiccup.

"Hic'cup..if yew ever wanna' git out there an' fight d'ragons, yew need to stop.." Gobber stopped, looking the gangly teen. "Stop all of..this." He said, motioning towards Hiccup.

"You just pointed to all of me." Hiccup said dryly, his long arms dropping to his sides.

"Yes, that's it! Stop bein' all ah' yew." Gobber said, like it wasn't a complete insult. Awkwardly, Skadi tip toed out of the smithy and back onto the battlefield without either man noticing.

* * *

The scene at the smithy was probably one of the most awkward moments that I've ever had the displeasure of being in. Gobber didn't mean to say hurtful things, but it was clear, well clear to me at least, that Hiccup took all the hurtful words to heart. I managed to made a quick leap to the left as part of a burning hut collapsed, almost knocking me down. Here and now isn't the time to be worrying about Hiccup's feelings-I had to make sure I made it through the fight.

"SKADI, O'ER 'ERE!" A woman, named Velma, called me, waving a blunt axe over her horn-helmeted head. I made my way over to the hulking she-Viking, accepting her axe with a smile before rushing through the burning village. It was a little disturbing-having to leap over the bodies of the injured and of the rubble of burning homes, but my job was important. It wasn't too bold, wasn't too violent, but it was very important.

If I can help the cause while keeping my head down and mouth shut: that's the job for me, honey.

I managed to drop off the axe at the smithy without another of Hiccup's inventions trying to kill me. Hiccup was a nice boy, very easy to talk to. He didn't demand a conversation, but he was able to carry one, albeit a bit shakily, but it was no easy task.

_**"NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!"**_

The cry made my heart stop and my veins turn to ice. Grown men were screaming, which was enough to scare me into moving. My legs were throbbing from having run for so long, but knowing that a deadly Night Fury was flying about made my adrenaline start to pump.

"SKADI!" My name made me dig my heels into the packed-down dirt. Stones and sticks dug into the bottom of my feet, making me skid to a wobbly stop.

"SYBIL?!" I shouted, squinting my eyes and leering around. I could hear my eldest cousin, but I couldn't see her.

"GET INTO THE SMITHY-NIGHT FURY IS ABOUT!" Sybil shouted from somewhere to my left. I barely caught sight of her, a flicker of red in a sea of Vikings. Dashing over, I glued myself to her hip, looking up at her.

"Lydia, Cynric, and the others have taken safety in the smithy-things just got serious, go." Sybil commanded, holding her spiked mace over her shoulder, scowling into the sky.

"But Syb.." I complained, but shut up when I caught the serious look in her icy turquoise eyes.

"Inside, now! GO!" She commanded, making me turn tail and make a b-line for the smithy. As I entered, all the others were poking their heads out the windows. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Lydia, and Cynric were squished by the same window, watching with wide eyes.

"Where are Hiccup and Gobber?" I asked Lydia, realizing that tools had been haphazardly thrown to the ground, and that both blacksmiths were missing.

"Where do you think? Gobber went out to help with the fight and Screw-up is out there helping the dragons destroy the village." Snotlout, a smaller, yet muscular, Viking overheard and answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Poor thing tries so hard." Lydia sighed, tugging on her hair.

"He needs to try harder. He's not taking his future position or this war seriously." Astrid grumped, watching the smoldering battle field with discontent.

"Now that's not fair. Everyone deals with their responsibilities differently." Cynric said, actually being mature for once. The others seemed to snort at him, rolling their eyes.

C'mon, Hiccup _couldn't be that bad? _I mean..sure, he's smaller in body mass than the others, but he's a decent height. He's smart, funny, and understanding-perfect qualities for a Chief to have. While traveling around Green, I'd seen many different villages and each Chief was different from the last. Some were big, some were small, some were fighters, and some were scholars.

Maybe Vikings were different than Celts, they seem to focus more on the body than the mind. Except for the rare few.

Anyway, there was no way that Hiccup was "useless" and destructive as everyone made him out to be.

Suddenly, a large, flaming iron basket (that once sat atop the brazier pole) came rolling through town. We all heard people shouting at Hiccup, blaming him for the flaming basket of doom that was now strolling about town.

"Oh Gods." I sighed, holding my hand over my eyes. Maybe I spoke too soon.


	3. Chapter 3: The Lightning Screamer

I just wanna say that I update my stories based on which stories get the most reviews (since that means that they're the most stories in demand)-and if no one updates, then I let it rest for a little while! I'm not gonna do that bullshit "NO REVIEW MEANS NO UPDATE" because that's some bullshit (even though I remember doing that when I was younger)

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It didn't take a scholar to know that Hiccup wouldn't be at his best right now. It was late, technically very early morning, and all the fires had finally been put out. All the injured had been taken to the healing house and reconstruction groups had been set up for tomorrow. I had gone home, expecting to be so exhausted that I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

But I wasn't.

I stayed up for about an hour before I dragged myself out of bed and snuck back outside. I crept through the village on my toes and found myself at Hiccup's house. I walked behind his house and climbed the pine tree that was planted beside what I assumed was his bedroom window.

Once I had climbed up high enough, I was sure that this was Hiccup's room. There was one bed, Hiccup-esq clothes all over the floor, and all these drawings scattered around the room.

But there was no Hiccup.

With a sigh and a very slow descent from the pine tree, I found myself trekking into the woods. It was incredibly stupid. Bears and large wolves came out at night, not to mention random snow storms. But I had a feeling that Hiccup was moping at the spot where he found me at earlier. It was a good place to start.

I was halfway to the little river when a grumbling noise made me stop. It came from beyond a small outcropping of trees and sounded like a depressed sigh. It sounded like Hiccup to me, so I slowly made my way over.

"Hiccup..are you okay?" I asked softly, worried that I'd startle the upset Viking. All I got in return was another deep, depressed sounding groan. I felt my chest clench a little and my heart went out to the gangly Viking.

"I know it seems bad now, but it'll get better." I said, pushing small treelings aside in my venture to get to Hiccup. I heard leaves rustling and another pained groan. Pained? Was Hiccup hurt? Pushing past more foliage, I pushed myself into a small clearing.

I expected to see an upset Hiccup, instead I saw something much more terrifying.

In a crumpled heap on the grassy ground of the clearing was a dragon. It was twisted and contorted in pain and it was what was making all those groaning noises. Its large nostrils sniffed the air once before the dragon's eyes caught mine. The dragon whimpered, wriggling and writhing on the ground like a sad little lamb. The dragon didn't seem threatening at all, it looked like it was trying to plead with me. This wasn't the blood thirsty beast that I had heard stories about.

The dragon was the color of fresh snow, or of the wool of a soft lamb. It was only about two heads taller than me, but it was probably five or six times as long as me. The dragon was thin, like a serpent, with long arms and legs. What struck me as strange was that the dragon didn't have scales, it actually had fur! The dragon's bright yellow eyes were filmed over with what I thought was pain.

I did a double take when I looked at the dragon's legs. The back left leg was completely gone! There was just a little stub where there was once a limb; it looked like it had been sliced off by a sword.

"Oh..you poor little lamb." I said, slightly nervous to approach the suffering creature. I knew better than to approach a wounded animal, but the dragon was looking at me with such intelligent eyes. I stuffed my hand into the small satchel that I wrapped around my hips and started to pull out the small medical aids that I carried with me.

Dropping to the ground by the dragon, I pulled off one of my foot wrappings and doused it in alcohol and set it aside. The dragon had stopped wriggling around and was watching me curiously.

"I'm going to pour this on there. It's going to hurt, but it has to be done." I said to the dragon who seemed to blink in understanding. With a mental countdown to three, I poured the cleanser over the dragon's nub, causing the beast to let out a mighty howl of agony. I quickly began to rub numbing cream on the nub, washing away the blood with my sterilized foot wrappings.

The dragon kept whimpering for a few more minutes but eventually went quiet. I had given the dragon a few minutes for the numbing cream to seep in before I had to stitch the nub closed. The stitching went over easy, since the numbing salve had worked wonders.

"That should work." I said, wrapping thick bandages around the nub. The off-white of the bandages contrasted against the pure white of the creature's fur. The dragon sighed, its furry ears perking up as it curled up into a comfortable position and blinked at me.

"So..I guess..bye." I said dumbly, brushing the dirt off my knees and pushing myself up. The white dragon groaned, reaching forward and grabbing onto my hair with its massive maw. I swallowed thickly when I felt the creature's teeth in my hair and the hot puffs of air against the back of my neck. Turning around, I found that the dragon let go of me quickly.

"I have to go find my friend..can you walk?" I asked, but the dragon shook its head. It smiled and it suddenly floated up into the air! Dragons apparently didn't need wings to fly.

"Okay, as long as you can get around somewhere." I murmured to myself, watching the dragon slowly flutter around me.

"I'm Skadi." I said, making the dragon chirp happily. "But I don't know what to call you."

The dragon seemed to stop and blink before it opened its mouth. I thought it was going to breathe fire down on me or something, but the dragon directed its mouth to the ground. A bright light surged from the creature's mouth with a mighty bang, leaving a smoking crater in the ground.

"A Lightning Screamer!" I said softly, recognizing the dragon by its display of power. What the gods was a Lightning Screamer doing this far North West? The dragon seemed pleased that I recognized its species.

"I could call you Lamb." I said, scratching the back of my neck. The dragon shot me a dirty look and snorted before raising his only remaining back leg. I sputtered, covering my eyes and turning away from the creature.

"Okay! You're a boy, I get it!" I yelped, only turning around when the dragon put down his remaining leg.

"Stump? Nub? Winter? Fuzzy?" I asked, each name was shot down with a yellow eyed glare. I was starting to get frustrated as I noticed that the sky was starting to lighten just slightly to a dull grey.

"If you weren't so picky, I would know what to call you." I muttered, but the white beast heard. Instead of being offended, the dragon wagged his tail and chirped.

"What? I said something good?" I asked, raising a brow as the dragon shook its head and its tongue rolled out the side of its furry muzzle. The dragon made a few sniffling noises before it whipping its head back and letting out a huge howl.

"That's a nice set of pipes you got." I winced, rubbing my ears. A light bulb thought turned on as the dragon started to chirp and squeak in happiness.

"Piper!" I yelped, clapping my hands together. Piper seemed to enjoy his new name and was making lazy loop-de-loops in the air. Looking up at the sky, I saw that the grey had begun to lighten even more. Morning was going to come soon and I still haven't found Hiccup.

"Piper, I've gotta go find my friend. So uh..please go home!" I said, packing up my left over medical supplies. I hoped that no one would notice my missing foot wraps, they have to be cleaned to get all of Piper's blood off of them. The lean dragon let out a long whine, but seemed to understand.

"It was nice to meet you, Piper." I whispered, nodding my head to the white dragon that fluttered softly to the ground. With a deep breath, I rushed off to the river. Just as I expected, there was a gangly Viking there, looking into the depths of the water.

* * *

**Third Person POV:**

"You look like someone pissed in your mead." Skadi whispered as she approached Hiccup. Hiccup jumped a little at the girl's low voice and shook his head. His head was still a little disorientated from his run in with the Night Fury earlier. He had just woken up from passing out and managed to drag himself over to the river to splash cold water on his face.

"I think I would be in a better mood if that was my only problem." Hiccup laughed, cupping more water in his hands and rubbing the freezing cold water onto his face. Skadi chuckled, sitting down next to the scrawny Viking.

"W-well what's wrong?" Skadi said dipping her bare feet into the water. Hiccup stared at her feet, wondering where her foot wrappings went off to.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Hiccup muttered bitterly, sighing. "I don't know why you're even talking to me. I almost killed you when you walked into Gobber's and then I almost burnt down the whole village."

"It's not like you meant to do those things. Bad things just happen sometimes." Skadi said, frowning at Hiccup. Hiccup felt a small piece of the guilt drift away from his chest, but he was still down in the dumps. He was happy that Skadi didn't blame him, but his father and the rest of the village still did.

"I..I shot down a dragon. With the machine I almost took you out with." Hiccup confessed, expecting the Celt-Viking to laugh in his face. Skadi sat up straight, her blue and light teal eyes wide in shock.

"W-was it white? White and long with fur?" Skadi asked, her brows furrowing together in worry. She had been wondering what would have sliced Piper's foot off and what she once assumed to be a sword wound might actually be a result from Hiccup's weapon. Hiccup raised a thick brow at the girl's rather specific question.

"No..why? I-I..it was a Night Fury. It was big, scaly, and black." Hiccup answered, watching the light brown haired girl blush a dark pink.

"Uh..you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Skadi repeated, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Hiccup wasn't as dumb as most Vikings, and he knew that Skadi was hiding something.

"Did you see a dragon too?" Hiccup asked, scooting closer to the brunette. Skadi sighed, her mismatched eyes darting around. She tried to avoid Hiccup's bright green gaze for as long as she could before she let out a broken sigh.

"You won't go and tell the others..right?" Skadi asked in a breathy whisper, looking up at Hiccup with watery eyes. Hiccup promised that he wouldn't tell the others and nodded at Skadi to continue.

"I was looking for you." Skadi started, her head hung low so she missed the bright red blush that crossed Hiccup's cheeks and ears. "When I heard this noise. I thought it was you, so I went towards it. It was this dragon, a pure white Lighting Screamer, and it's back leg had been hacked off." Skadi said, watching Hiccup's eyes widen.

"A Lightning Screamer? Out this far?" Hiccup asked, amazed.

"I thought the same! I helped by wrapping up the nub and the dragon seemed so…_intelligent._ I named him Piper, sent him off, and came this way. I assume you saw a dragon as well?" Skadi said, twiddling her thumbs together nervously.

"Y-yeah..A Night Fury. I had him trapped and I went to kill him..but his eyes." Hiccup said, cupping more water in his hands and using it to scrub at his face in frustration.

"His eyes held the same intelligence?" Skadi said, biting her bottom lip. Hiccup nodded, letting out a deep sigh.

"When I raised my knife to kill him..he..he looked so scared, like he knew that I was going to kill him. He didn't look wild. He didn't fight back, he just whimpered..like a puppy dog." Hiccup said, wiping some chilly water out of his eyes.

"That doesn't make you weak Hiccup. Not killing those dragons doesn't make either of us weak. The Divines had a reason for us not to kill those dragons." Skadi said confidently, lifting her feet out of the river.

"I hope you're right, Skadi." Hiccup said, standing up and offering Skadi a hand. The brunette took the helping hand and the two started walking back to the village.

"Hiccup..?" Skadi whispered after a few minutes. The two were getting closer to the village, they could just see the few flickers of light from the hanging street lanterns.

"Yeah?" Hiccup answered blankly, his mind somewhat there and somewhat in a different place.

"Do you think I'll do okay in dragon training tomorrow? I mean..I couldn't kill that Lightning Screamer." Skadi whispered worriedly, her brows furrowing.

"Dragon training is tomorrow. Don't worry about tomorrow right now." Hiccup said airily, looking up to the stars.

"Oh." Skadi sighed, hoping for a more uplifting talk from the green eyed boy. She shuffled her bare feet against the dust, nose twitching at the smell of the dirt.

"I think you'll do great." Hiccup said after a few minutes. The brunette girl and the auburn haired boy smiled at each other one last time before they split ways to their homes.


End file.
